Nina Schmidgall, director of family ministry at National Community Church in Washington, D.C., joins host, Carlos Whittaker, to talk about the important topic of setting your family’s rhythm according to your goals (and reestablishing it when necessary) in today’s episode of the Parent Cue Live podcast.

Voices In This Episode

Nina Schmidgall, director of family ministry at National Community Church in Washington, D.C., joins host, Carlos Whittaker, to talk about the important topic of setting your family’s rhythm according to your goals (and reestablishing it when necessary) in today’s episode of the Parent Cue Live podcast.

YOUR CUE

Reevaluate often. Several times a year, you’ll need to take time to recalibrate. As a family, ask yourselves, “What is the rhythm for my family during this season? How can I be more intentional with my time?”

Consider your priorities. You and your family members have things that are uniquely important to them. Clarify what they are and always test your family’s rhythm against them. Anything that doesn’t align with your family’s priorities shouldn’t be a part of your rhythm.

Decide the moments you want to guard. In your family’s life together, there will be some things you can bend a little on, and some things you can’t. Protect those things that cannot be compromised, from vacations together to family nights.

EPISODE RECAP

Life’s new seasons often call for an adjustment in your family’s rhythm. And whether you think so or not, your family definitely has a rhythm, chaotic as it may be.

With the school year’s arrival and the summer season coming to a close, it’s important for families to decide during seasons of transition exactly what’s important to them and what’s not. Nina Schmidgall, director of family ministry at National Community Church in Washington, D.C., a wife and mother of three, knows all too well the demands life places on a family. Her oldest daughter is heading into middle school for the first time, and her school is located clear across town in a large, metropolitan area. Maximizing their family’s rhythm and all of its moving parts, Nina says, is the key to parents’ success.

It’s important for families to remember their rhythm might look completely different from someone else’s (insert your favorite quote about how comparison is terrible here!). Whether you’re part of a family where one member travels for work, or where one or both parents work primarily on the weekends, families should always take into account that comparing your family to someone else’s ultimately distracts you from tuning in to your own family’s rhythm and needs.

Tune in to today’s episode to hear more from Nina about taking practical steps to establishing your family’s rhythm, how to be intentional with life’s small moments, and the need for slowing down.

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We want to remind you why what you do is so important. To help you focus on what matters most. To discover parenting along with you, so you know you’re not in this alone. Not all at once. Just little by little. So week by week, we will cue you so you can make the most of the weeks you have with your kids before graduation.